promenade « féminité, fertilité » dans le musée

feminity, fertility

In non-western cultures, female effigies often incarnate ancestors.

In connection with the spirit world, of which they are guardians, they also represent goddess-mothers or goddesses who can be wild, protective, bearers of wisdom, noble or hieratic, graceful or sensual, and which are usually symbols of fertility.

With regard to the portrayal of motherhood, a recurring theme in African art, this refers to the idea of continuing the family or clan lineage, and to the transmission of knowledge.

Hooks

Anthropomorphic sculpture

Commemorative effigy

Ceremonial cloth

A Maam man attacking a pregnant woman

Statuette depicting a mother and her child

Statuette depicting the goddess Kankalinmata

Manasa, the goddess of snakes

Anthropomorphic mask

Anthropo-zoomorphic mask

Motherhood

Motherhood

Helmet mask

Female statuette

Cup bearer

Shadow puppet, Sita under her tree

Ritual doll

Chalchiuhtlicue

Anthropomorphic statuette: motherhood

Hunchback female figurine

Female figurine

A Maam man attacking a pregnant woman

In Western Arnhem Land, the aborigines believe in the existence of spirits, the Mimi and the Maam, which live in the rocky cliffs. The stories of these spirits which are painted on the rocky walls of caves or on tree bark, as well as being a learning aid for children, are also used for witchcraft. In the paintings, the Maam are characterised by their deformed bodies, their contorted and open limbs, and their enlarged genitalia, elements which link them to the world of witchcraft. They also refer to the spirit of a deceased person, their ghost. These Maam spirits are painted in order to trigger vengeance towards the enemy, an adulterous partner, or a potential lover who has refused advances… The act of touching the painting then triggers the punishment. The pregnant female figure portrayed here is being chased by a Maam spirit. The view of the inside of the woman’s body is characteristic of the “x-ray” style used in the paintings of the Western Arnhem Land. However, the portrayal of pregnancy is rare in the paintings and sculptures of Oceania. There are some paintings of women breast-feeding their babies in the art of the Western Arnhem Land, linked to imitative magic. However, in this case, the painting is intended to provoke illness or death.